Papers & Articles

28/11/2007  |  Use Social Media to market your website

It is estimated that by 2010, 70% of internet content will be user generated content (UGC)and it's important to understand this area of the web. Social Media Optimisation could be the future of SEO, as rankings are based less upon the manipulation of code and more about old fashioned promotion, except in this case on the web.

As more and more websites become W3C compliant, SEO campaigns will have to deploy Social Media Optimisation (SMO). Recently Channel 4 blitzed Myspace and Facebook with an ad campaign to promote teen soap Skins. As this demographic deserts traditional media outlets like TV, in favour of Bebo, Facebook and Myspace, businesses will have to switch their marketing budgets more towards SMO.

In this article we briefly look at some of the options for using Social Media Optimisation (SMO)or Social Media Marketing to improve traffic.

1. Blogs and Wikis; a good way to generate interest is to start a blog or wiki. You or your colleagues could create a blog with daily input, thoughts and ideas about your business. These can be set up to allow a reply. This not only lends integrity to your company, but engages the consumer in a two-way conversation. Clients will react favourably if they believe they are being listened to and you will be able to improve your business based on their feedback.

2. RSS feeds; create an RSS feed, so when publishing new content on your site, users will receive an automatically generated feed. This will not only create valuable links from other websites, but is great for generating a buzz about your business.

3. Viral Marketing; Video and Flash games are a fun way to increase brand awareness. This should be created to be genuinely entertaining, innovative and fun and if so your brand name can spread like wildfire through out the internet.

4. Social Media Sites; create a Facebook or Myspace profile to generate heat about a new product line. HSBC responded to a Facebook based campaign against charges for graduates, another sign that social networking sites are acquiring corporate clout.

To find out more about how White Hat Media can help you with Social Media Marketing, call 01273 704771 or click here.